The Consumers’ Foundation has urged the Department of Health to establish regulations to oversee the labeling of products claiming to be organic, with a specific focus on organic cosmetics.
Not all organic cosmetics products contain 100 percent organic ingredients, including products that are imported from foreign countries which are certified as organic, the foundation said.
The foundation recently examined eight kinds of cosmetic, beauty and bath products sold in the country with organic labels. Of those, only three were certified as organic by foreign organizations.
Among them were a Body Shop day cream, which carried an ECO label issued by France’s Cosmebio organization, and a L’Occitane brand body stick, which had an ECO label and a BIO label — both issued by Cosmebio.
The other was an Agronatura rose shower milk, which carried an AIAB label issued by an Italian organization of the same name and an ICEA label, also issued by an Italian organization.
Products with 50 percent or more of their contents composed of organic materials qualify for an ECO label, the foundation said, quoting a research report from the Taichung-based China Medical University.
The BIO certification applies the most stringent regulations. It requires products to have 95 percent of their natural ingredient be organic and organic content must comprise no less than 10 percent of the product’s total content.
The foundation reminded consumers to look closely when shopping for these products. Not all “organic” products were 100 percent organic, it said.
It also urged the health department to draft a national organic program to provide standards for production of organic products, their labeling and marketing.
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